Hilary Term

I've been back in Oxford for a few weeks now, and the work is already ramping up. Apparently this is the biggest term work-wise, and it has been good for me to remember that, at this point, this is all pedagogic, with the purpose of me learning, engaging, and chasing questions left over from my Timor days. To wit, my favorite paper has been a short piece on rice price fluctuations.

I have had a funny banjo-plucking Brit move onto my floor, and the other night he made the mistake of playing me in high-stakes scrabble (I won a toaster! No, really, I did). It has livened up the place considerably and the kitchen, despite still being a catastrophic mess, has become a place for evening tea and non-internet-based procrastination. A welcome change. There is also noticeably more light, and the buds on the trees suggest that spring is rushing our way.


And while I'm logged on, I need to put the final word on the 2010 Wild Goose Chase. In the end, we saw 122 species (five or so more that I didn't count), an impressive tally for a place that has around 300 regulars and 500 total species (counting once-in-30-year vagrants). Wales for me was the highlight - gorgeous country, down-earth-guide, and one great afternoon sitting against a seawall with the county's finest twitchers looking for loons.

Not to mention the Red Kites! The population in Wales was restored from a handful at the turn of the century to now over 200 breeding pairs (continental birds were introduced to other parts of the UK). Feeding continues, and with the snow, there were over 500 kites. These photos are by Janet Baxter, a friend of Elfyn's; in amongst the jumble was a Black Kite - a real rarity for this area.